1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector device in which a terminal is incorporated in a connector housing thereof.
2. Related Art
For example, when connecting a printed circuit board to an external circuit, a female connector device is mounted on the printed circuit board and is connected to its mating (male) connector device connected to the external circuit side to thereby connect the printed circuit board to the external circuit. In this case, generally, the connector device is structured such that, in case where the base end portion of the terminal thereof is inserted into and soldered to the through hole of the printed circuit board, the connector device can be mounted fixedly to the printed circuit board. Also, when it is necessary to switch the electrical connection state of the external circuit, that is, it is necessary to connect and disconnect the external circuit through the connector device, another switch device is disposed on the printed circuit board.
However, in case where the connector device and switch device are disposed separately on the printed circuit board, the number of parts increases and the installation space of the printed circuit board increases.
In view of this, the present inventors et al. have tried to add a circuit switching function to the connector device. In this case, however, in case where incorporation of the circuit switching function into the connector device increases the size of the connector device excessively and complicates the structure of the connector device greatly, such circuit switching function incorporation conflicts with the expected object thereof.
The present invention aims at eliminating the above defects. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a connector device which not only can integrally incorporate a circuit switching function therein but also can have a simple structure.
In attaining the above object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a connector device including:
a connector housing; and
a terminal incorporated into the connector housing, the terminal including,
a connecting portion on a leading end side of the terminal, which is connected to a mating terminal of a mating connector device when the mating connector device is connected to the connector housing, and
a switch contact formed integral with the terminal on the base end side of the terminal.
According to first aspect of the present connector device, the terminal has not only its normal connecting function to be performed by a connecting portion thereof connectable with the terminal of the mating connector device but also a circuit switching function to be performed by a switch contact formed integral with the terminal. According to this, not only circuit switching using the switch contact is possible but also there is eliminated the need to provide a switch contact separately from the terminal, which allows the present connector device to have a simple structure.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the connector device of the first aspect, the terminal includes a spring portion formed integral therewith and interposed between the connector portion and the switch contact to apply an elastic contact force to the switch contact. According to the second aspect of the invention, there is eliminated the need for separate provision of a spring which is used to apply an elastic contact force to the switch contact, thereby being able to simplify the structure of the connector device further.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the connector device of the first aspect of the invention, the connector device is adapted to be mounted on a printed circuit board including an electrode disposed thereon and used together therewith,
the connector housing includes an inner housing supporting the terminal, and an outer housing fixed to the printed circuit board and supporting the inner housing, so that the inner hosing housing is movable with respect to the outer housing as a switching movement,
the switch contact is shifted to switch a contact state with respect to the electrode by the switching movement.
According to the third aspect of the invention, by switchingly moving the inner housing with respect to the outer housing, the switch contact of the terminal can be shifted so that the contact state of the switch contact with respect to the electrode on the printed circuit board can be switched. Therefore, the inner housing, to which the mating connector device is to be connected, can be used in such a manner that it can perform not only the function of the switch operation portion but also the circuit switching function.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the connector device of the third aspect, the inner housing includes a securing pawl portion which is integrally formed therewith and elastically secures the inner housing to the outer housing to allow the switching movement.